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Today was a great day as far as having the proper trader mindset goes. Really quite good, but not perfect.

After checking the news today, I got the idea to set a loop timer to be a reminder to bring me back to where my mind should be, and read through important mental beliefs and such that I have written out (all Mark Douglas stuff).

7:00 to 7:22 - I did notice a bit of frustration felt due to the fact that the market was absolutely not moving. I noted this feeling, and refocused.

*In between trades (looking for next edge) I noticed, "I'm fully aware of my desires to anticipate signals today." This is a good thing for me to notice myself thinking about.

Your journal is unique because you don't just focus on the market part, you also focus on what is MY state at the moment part which makes us feel we are sitting right next to you and observing your mind through a glass on your forehead while you are trading. Thanks!

I will admit it. Trading CL is taking a toll on me. It's so demanding. It's so fast. It's so mean!

I feel as though my returns (especially on a risk adjusted basis) have diminished. I will, however, finish this Exercise #3 I'm currently in with the same market through the end of the week as planned.

I will be taking a hard look at ES though. I know it's "slow" compared to CL, but that is welcomed at this point. I really do feel worn out.

Ok, enough of the pity party. Here are the cumulative results since I began Exercise #3 last Friday. This is my sheet I import the trade analyzer data into. The results are in average ticks per contract traded.

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Mentalities:

They have been quite good actually! Things have become much easier since I got away from TRYING to be so mechanical, when that is not what I do. I'm really embracing the uncertainty of the markets, although I would be lying if I said I didn't want to be right on every trade. At least I am acknowledging that it's impossible to know the outcome of trades, which is a huge benefit when it comes to trade management.

The problems, frustrations, and weariness are coming from trying to trade so TIGHTLY in such a wild market.

" You are doing a great job of being consistently profitable. Why did you move from TF to CL?. If I am moving to CL from TF, I could expect my profit to go up 2 to 3 folds else not trade CL as the drawdowns to much more severe on CL.

In my opinion, you could easily make more than 20-25 Ticks just by going to higher tick count and being selective in trading. "

I think what I wrote then is still vaild and kind of knew you will have large of drawdown in the way you are trading the CL then. 10-20 Tick in CL is pure noise. The way I see it - you should go for trades that will give you more ticks, meaning use a large tick chart. You will get 3 to 5 trades in normal day, but that is all you need.

Why are you thinking of ES, when you have a thread dedicated to TF. Price action in ES is better than TF but the spread will eat you up if you trade two many times in a day. Check YM price action is similar to ES and the spread better than ES.

Hi IT7,
Check YM price action is similar to ES and the spread better than ES.

YM is all good but the tick price is only 5 bucks and the commission is another 5 bucks (on TST for that matter), so you just give up 1 tick to pay for the trade, while in ES or 6E you only pay same 5 bucks while 1 tick costs 12.5, so the costs are less than half of for YM. Same with contracts, you have same number of contracts for ES, YM or anything else, so dollar-wise you cannot gain as much bucks for your ticks. Sure, volatility is higher on YM but then you need to more than double your targets in ticks to gain the same buck for your limit contracts number to match ES, 6E or CL.

PS not sure how come spread is better on YM, unless during news release ES is always 1 tick spread, sometimes even 0. Only in a sense that it is 1 tick on both but 1 tick costs less on YM the spread is just 5 bucks not 12.5 in YM, if you must use market orders, but this is offset by higher (relative to tick value) commissions.

PS not sure how come spread is better on YM, unless during news release ES is always 1 tick spread, sometimes even 0. Only in a sense that it is 1 tick on both but 1 tick costs less on YM the spread is just 5 bucks not 12.5 in YM, if you must use market orders, but this is offset by higher (relative to tick value) commissions.

It does not matter what type of order you use, you pay the spread. If you use a limit to enter and exit, the market has to move 1 tick to fill you, so your 1 tick gain becomes a scratch. The spread exists always, it's what makes a market. A zero spread is not practically possible for any instrument, for normal type trading anyway.

It does not matter what type of order you use, you pay the spread. If you use a limit to enter and exit, the market has to move 1 tick to fill you, so your 1 tick gain becomes a scratch. The spread exists always, it's what makes a market. A zero spread is not practically possible for any instrument, for normal type trading anyway.

I agree but unless you are filled to the tick and then price reversed or reversed one tick shy you don't suffer from the spread. All said commissions toll is much more visible on the statement.

For some reason, venting about CL bothering me yesterday helped me today. I had a much stronger detachment from each 10 or 15 tick swing, and really stuck with my guns. It's like I grew acceptance of the fact that CL is wild, instead of trying to mentally control it tick by tick, haha.

As usual though, I had single trade MAE's that are equal to my daily profits. So I'm only making about 1 unit in terms of R on most profitable days. I'm better in other markets. Actually I'm being hard on myself as usual, my average R today was 58 ticks, and I made 144 ticks... so actually I came out with 2.5R. I'm so mean to me unless I make a conscious effort not to be!

Here's the trades, both on a chart and the trade analyzer.

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Tomorrow will be the final day of Exercise 3. If feels like a finish line! I'll give a detailed review/analysis/next steps after tomorrow's session.

I also want to say thanks to everyone that takes the time to offer feedback, criticism, and encouragement. I feel honored each time you do.